Brick



' H. L OETIE.

} BRIGK.

Patented July 17,1894.

7 6 mvgoa: ZZZ/Z 4 ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY LOFTIE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

BRICK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 523,076, dated July 17, 1894.

Application filed October 6, 1893. Serial No. 487,331. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY LOFTIE, of Syracuse,in the county of Onondaga,in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bricks, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to building and paving bricks, especially to that class of bricks which are formed with tongues and grooves for interlocking with those of the adjacent bricks.

The object of my present invention is to provide bricks with longitudinal interlocking side-bearings having positive engaging shoulders at right angles to the sides of the bricks and so shaped as to allow the bricks to be easily molded with said bearings and to be handled and transported with less liability of breaking or injuring the bearings formed thereon, and also allow said bricks to be set edgewise upon a foundation of either sand or mortar or other loose or soft material without danger of causing said material to be dragged and caught between the bricks by the brick in process of being laid. I thus insure close and perfectjoints between the bricks which are caused to support each other by their abrupt or square engaging shoulders.

To this end my invention consists essen-' tially of a brick having on one side a longitudinal projection and in the opposite side a corresponding longitudinal groove, said projection and groove being formed with a right angled bottom shoulder and with a gradually sloping top and blunted at the junction of said top and bottom portions, all as herein- I after more fully described and specifically set forth in the claim.

The invention is fully illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are end views of bricks formed for setting them on a horizontal bed or foundation, and Fig. 3 is an end view of bricks shaped for setting them in a crowning or arching position.

(J-G- represent the ends of the bricks which are designed to beset edgewise as shown. Each of these bricks I form with the longitudinal projection -con one side and with the corresponding lgigitudinal groove --b on the opposite side. Said projection and groove are each formed with the horizontal or right angled bottom shoulder aand with the sloping top c and blunted at the junction of said bottom and top portions as shown at a'. The side portions --0." above and below the projection and groove are in line with each other. The projection -c is thoroughly braced by the long and gradually sloping top portion c' thereof, and the breaking of the projection is further guarded against by the blunting a' thereof, and thus the square and positive bearing shoulder a is preserved. Besides this the sloping portions c of the projection and groove allow the brick to be brought down closely by the side of the previously laid brick as represented by dotted lines in'Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings and to be seated with its square projecting shoulder ----aupon the corresponding shoulder in the bottom of the groove b of the adjacent brick. This latter simultaneous downward and lateral movement of the brick obviates the liability of dragging into the joint between the bricks the underlying sand, or mortar or other loose or soft material of which the bed or foundation is composed. I thus insure a perfectly close joint between the bricks and a perfect engagement of the interlocking shoulders thereof.

Bricks designed for forming an arch or to be laid on a crowning bed or foundation have their side-portions above and below the projection cand groove bsloped convergent from the top to the bottom of the brick as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

What I claim as my invention is- The improved building and paving brick having on one side a longitudinal projection and in the opposite side a corresponding longitudinal groove, said projection and groove being formed with a right angled bottom shoulder and with a gradually sloping top and blunted at the junction of said top and bottom portions substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 3d day of October, 1893.

HENRY LOFTIE. [1. s]

Witnesses:

J. J. LAASS, O. L. BENDIXON. 

